The present invention relates generally to inductive energy storage devices and more particularly, it relates to inductive transformer-type storage devices intended for supplying power to installations wherein a high pulsed output is required, for example, installations generating powerful relativistic electron beams.
Induction storage devices are known in the art comprising a winding which sets up a magnetic field, a power source for this winding, and a means for breaking the winding circuit.
The maximum voltage in such storage devices is determined first of all by the voltage which can be withstood by the switch breaking the accumulating winding circuit. In the prior art storage devices, this voltage is equal to no more than 50 to 100 kV, and in order to increase the voltage generated by these storage devices to several hundred kilovolts, either totally new switches had to be designed or a plurality of known switches had to be connected in series.
A disadvantage inherent in such storage devices resides in the complexity of generating very high voltages in the order of several hundred kilovolts.
There are also known in the art inductive transformer-type storage devices comprising a primary winding and a secondary winding arranged inside the primary winding coaxially thereof. The secondary winding is used mainly to electrically separate the accumulating winding circuit from the load circuit, i.e. the primary and secondary winding circuits. In the prior art inductive transformer-type storage devices, the interwinding coupling coefficient is close to unity, the insulation between the windings is weak, the number of turns in the secondary winding does not exceed to any appreciable degree the turns in the primary winding, and, consequently, the voltage across the secondary winding cannot be much in excess of that across the primary winding, i.e. it cannot exceed 50-100 kV, which considerably limits the field of application of the prior art energy storage devices and particularly, rules out the possibility of using them for supplying power to installations accelerating electrons to relativistic energies (1 Mev), for testing high-voltage electric equipment, etc.
When the prior art inductive storage devices are used for accelerating electrons to relativistic energies, there must be employed additional means for boosting the voltage generated by these storage devices, for example, a transformer.
Moreover, in the prior art inductive storage devices, the energy takeoff time usually equals 10.sup.-4 to 10.sup.-2 sec, which makes it impossible to use them for supplying power to high-power accelerators with field-emission cathodes wherein the takeoff time should not exceed 10.sup.-7 sec.